It was almost 5pm and the staunch fans of Lionel Messi were rushing to enjoy the game between Argentina and Austria. As expected, when I got to the viewing centre, it was almost overcrowded with a mixed multitude, well wishers of Argentina and the ASU (Against Supporters Union), who are mainly die hard Cristiano Ronaldo fans.
During the early minutes of the game, Messi missed a penalty Argentina had. The usual booing from the CR7 fans started. They really made fun of Messi and his cohorts. Just a few minutes to the end of the first half, Leo Messi scored the record breaking goal, making history as the all time top scorer of the Men’s FIFA World Cup. Your guess of what transpired at that moment is as good as mine.
Pandemonium erupted at the centre. The euphoria was uncontrollable. The banter began with supporters of Messi calling him the GOAT(Greatest Of All Time) while referring to CR7 as ‘Oluman Boogie’ who doesn’t want to hang up his ‘dancing boots’ thereby spoiling the chances of youngsters with his selfish ambitions. It was such an exciting banter.
Amidst the jubilation and banter, the camera fell on a gentleman in the stands. One of my colleagues shouted, “Hey, Phil look at who’s in the stands!” Guess what? Standing in the VIP stands was our own classmate, Gaspollar De Don. Goodness me! The young man was in high spirits and looked very good.
Right after the match, we had a group video call to feed our curiosity and confirm what we saw. Oh, yes! Indeed, he was the one who was cladded in that famous Argentina Jersey. Gaspodollar De Don showed us his luxurious mansion and fleet of cars in New York City. He went further by elaborating on how he left Ghana for the US a year after we completed school and how lavishly he’s living now.
Then came the big conversation. “Charlie, it seems we came to escort some people in this life. We are lagging behind. Were we not the best students in class? We used to teach Gaspollar De Don. Now look at the life he’s living while we are here struggling.”, said Thiago. Well, as I thought of it, I can say my friend’s concerns were quite valid. However, as I began to analyse the situation, one thing stood out : paddle your own canoe.
I have read several books on how to become successful. If you had read similar books and tried to live the instructions to the letter, you’d be frustrated. The truth of the matter is that life doesn’t follow a pattern. How do we compare someone with the backing of the systems of the States to us who are virtually doing everything by ourselves, building from scratch while supporting families and loved ones with the little we get.
This reminded me of the legendary Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. An excerpt from it says the apothecary had his breakthrough by consenting to sell poison to Romeo. This is absurd! My point is this: as far as the people of Mantua were concerned, he was a hardworking apothecary who made it while working all his life. But, the truth is that between his poverty and wealth, a rule was broken that will never be told. Imagine comparing your journey to this apothecary’s.
As humans, the feeling of being behind will sometimes show up. Our brain compares our back stage with someone’s front stage. We don’t see their debt, doubts, 2am panic, or their 7 years of failure. All we see is their moments of joy and the flaunting of their success stories. Social media presents curated images of success and lavish lifestyles to make us feel behind. The best thing you could do is to charter your own course and make the most of the opportunities that come your way.
In the end, remember that for everything others did to succeed, many have failed woefully doing the same. We all have our stories and life deals with us according to our unique scripts. We can learn virtues like integrity, continuous learning, credibility, etc from successful people without comparing ourselves to them. Because at a point in life, men fly without leaving footprints for others to follow. To everyone reading this, you are not behind. Keep paddling your own canoe. Do it your own way but make sure it’s God’s way.
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